The present invention relates to mobile devices, and more particularly, to mobile devices that are hearing aid compatible.
Mobile devices such as mobile handsets have been known for years and have been widely adopted throughout the world as a convenient and cost effective way of communication. As the current generations become older, the percentage of older people using a mobile handset has increased. These older individuals tend to have a greater occurrence of hearing-related problems and therefore more frequently posses and utilize hearing aids to assist them in their hearing. Hearing aids are small battery-operated devices that typically sit in a user's ear. A hearing aid is equipped with a microphone and an amplifier and helps the user hear by amplifying sound that would otherwise be too quiet for the user to properly perceive. Although a hearing aid is helpful to its user, hearing aids can emit noises such as buzzing noises when exposed to electromagnetic fields with sufficient strength such that the field stimulates the voice coil of the microphone.
In the past, most mobile handsets operated over an analog network and the electromagnetic field generated by the analog network was not particularly problematic. Most, if not all of the mobile handset handsets on the market today, however, are configured to operate over a digital network because of the benefits of such a network. The use of mobile handsets over a digital network can create a problem with a segment of the mobile handset market that uses hearing aids. Each mobile handset emanates an electromagnetic field as it communicates over the network. In a digital network, the electromagnetic field pulses and these pulses, if of sufficient strength, may stimulate the voice coil of the hearing aid. Such stimulation can create a disturbing buzzing sound that can prevent a user with a hearing aid from reliably using a mobile handset.
Conventional solutions to this problem such as a neck-loop or special headset, while potentially effective, are more costly and less convenient. Therefore, there is interest in a mobile device that works in a digital network and is also compatible with hearing aid users. A mobile handset that achieves this could be designated as hearing aid compatible or compliant (“HAC”), which is a desirable feature for a number of potential users. Consequentially, systems to provide such a feature would be desirable to certain individuals.